Scottish May Meets 2008
by Tish Woulds
Hurray for Haggis!
Haggis in May? This dish is usually associated with cold, windy, ’driech’ weather, possible at any time of year in Scotland. Not the case though for the Blackrock Cottage meet this May. Blackrock Cottage, the Ladies Scottish Climbing Club hut, is superbly situated at the eastern end of Glencoe, underneath Sron na Creise and Meall a’ Bhuiridh and gives excellent access to many scrambling and Munro bagging opportunities. This year the group tackled hills in the beautiful Glen Etive as well as Stob Ghabhar, Sgurr Eilde Mor and Beinn an Dothaidh.
Slightly misty mornings gave way to hazy and then bright sunshine, the odd light shower making the glens sparkle. A memorable rest on the top of Binnein Beag with Paul Marginson, the organiser, pleased to be halfway through his Munros, gave stunning views of the Mamores, Aonach Mor and Beag, the Easains, the Glencoe hills and more. The complete lack of wind resulted in an amazing calmness and feeling of secrecy. The fine weather enabled us to enjoy the freshness and delicacy of the new spring growth, the glens showing beautiful and differing subtle shades of green.
And the haggis? Great hill food even in May!
Classic Scrambles on Skye
The Island of Skye offers superb opportunities for walking, scrambling and climbing. With its unique Black Cuillin, the Red Cuillin, the Trotternish Peninsula, cliffs and coastline, the possibilities are endless. The gabbro on the ridge gives good grip for scrambling but the basalt layers can be very slippery when wet. For safe manoeuvring on the ridge it is necessary to have a good route finding ability and a good head for heights. Previous knowledge of the ridge and clear dry weather also aid safety.
The members attending the second May meet at Portnalong found that the fine weather of early May was promised to hold. The streams were drying up, the bogs were crisp and the distillery was running out of water! The Club group had mixed abilities with some experienced climbers, some with a good knowledge of the ridge, some who had not visited for many years and some visiting for the first time. Everyone was keen to share knowledge and re-experience or learn about this complicated area.
With fine weather for the first three days many of the classic scrambles were tackled. These included among others Pinnacle Ridge, with its short abseil, the Corrie Lagan Circuit, Blaven and the Clach Glas Ridge, the Munro top of Sgurr nan Gillean and Glamaig, the Corbett of the Red Cuillin. The 1 in 25 Harvey’s map of the ridge, as recommended by the SMC guide, was found to be a very useful aid to navigation and easier to use than the OS maps. A scrambling guide was also useful. One member who had been forced to use a large pack and had experienced a tight squeeze was amused to read that the ‘thrutch’ up a chimney was ‘easier with a small sac’! We were reminded of the potential dangers of the ridge when one couple were involved in alerting the Mountain Rescue Team to a fallen climber who unfortunately died from his injuries.
One damp, cloudy start found groups exploring the areas of the Quiriang and the Storr on the Trotternish Peninsula, a beautiful area but with plenty of ups and downs for an easy day!
Clear weather for the final day allowed everyone to be out on the hills. The views were splendid to Rhum, Eigg and the Outer Hebrides. The highlight for one group was the four hour scramble up from Loch Coruisk on the Dubh slabs, a ‘must’ for any keen scrambler. The ’quirks’ of the ridge, such as the ‘athletic wriggle’ under the chockstone at the top of Eastern Gulley were re-learnt.
Darrell and Terryl realised a dream by completing the full traverse of the ridge in a most competent manner. (see The Traverse of the Cuilin). As we left another group of three were tackling the traverse.
For those new to Skye, the week had certainly whetted their appetite for the Island.
In order to learn and remember about the complexity of the ridge, it is useful to visit often. This was to be the seventh meet that Martin Haydon had organised on Skye, one of his favourite places. How sad that he was not able to be there to share his experience and expertise with us, but thanks for the organisation Martin. And what was on the menu at the Old Inn, Carbost for our last night meal, Haggis hurray!
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Last updated: 05 December 2008